Tis the holiday season?! Whhhhaaaaaaaa…..what a difference a year makes eh? Exactly a year and 2 days ago we were in Bangkok having a one in a lifetime meal at Gaggan Anand restaurant. It was our last food adventure of 2019 and such a delight it was! Once all this corona malarky is over or shall I say, when the world is back to some semblance of normal, and you can make your way to Bangkok, trust me Gaggan Anand is a place you to visit! I mean the whole food scene in Bangkok is just lush, but yeah, it is a bucket list place for sure!
Any ho, whilst 2020 has been a piss take of a year, the fact that we in December and it’s a few days to the new year, we stay gracious! For Christmas break this year, we are in Malta (life changing things gwarnning 🤨) but yeah, here we are in Malta. Quick back story, we have been in Malta for over week and the day we flew in England, announced TIER 4 lockdown! Not a good look by Boris 🙄(Mr Prime minister) especially as people were looking forward to going to spend Christmas with their families, who they have not seen throughout the year. As you might have guessed, it was pandemonium and people VEXED (sigh), at this rate, I reckon we are going back to full national lockdown!
Right, mini rant over, back to this final food adventure of the year then. Hope you lot had a good enough Christmas, ours was not too bad considering we ended up with Christmas lunch that we were not expecting lol! nonetheless, spoke with all our loved ones across the globe and made the best of it INSPITE OF IT ALL! Since our Christmas lunch turned out to be a dead dud, Neal decides to fix it and went to work finding another restaurant for us to visit and voila! Under Grain, one of the very first michelin star restaurants on the island!
The restaurant is located within Rosselli hotel. The foyer / reception area is gorgeous, the space and décor minimalist, the floor tiles were dope too. It had the whole ‘boutique’ hotel vibe, and we were digging it!
A waitress emerged from the lifts to collect us and take us to the restaurant (which was below ground floor) err under grain? Ha! Now you lot know I am a sucker for details, and these guys at undergrain have it down to a T! I know I said the décor at the reception of the hotel was lovely, well, the décor in the restaurant was equally lovely. Whilst the general ambience was subdued, it was welcoming. I particularly liked the fixtures and how there were elements of a clothes workshop incorporated.
plus any restaurant that provides a foot stool for us girls to place our purses, gets a tick in my book!
We were welcomed with a glass of Maltese bubbly – a cassar de Malte 2017 brut which was accompanied with sourdough bread, a ‘babybel’ looking butter, fritters and anchovies and dip made from 6-year-old balsamic vinegar. I mean, hellor!
We asked for the taster menu and Thomas (the Maitre’d) challenged us and suggested we allow the Chef freestyle and serve us an ‘off’ the books menu, of course we said yes and boi! Our meal started with the chef’s introduction which was a selection of snacks – black French biscuits which were cheesy, potatoes that when you bite into it a burst of hazel nut comes through,
bacon bread sticks that literally melt in your mouth, puff pastry topped with truffle and a cheesy middle all washed down with mushroom soup which got more flavoursome as you drank it from the cup!
let’s just say after this intro, we were like, chef about to bring IT!
The first course was slightly torched cured Scottish Scallops served with capers and date puree with a creamy caviar and sage beurre balance sauce. The scallops were presented with just the capers and puree and the caviar sauce was poured over at the table. The white wine of choice was Spanish (Bodegas Protos) had apricot and pineapple notes that enhanced the flavour of the dish.
Course 2 was salt baked celeriac, pickled wild mushroom served on a base of saint-maure and vin jaune custard. We had 2 variations of these dish because well, your girl does not do onions! So, Chef made mine without onions and Neal had onions in his?! It was scrumptious and the French Sancere wine with toasted almond and apricot tones was the perfect accompaniment.
Our meat course was a meat feast! An assortment of black angus beef cuts! The meat balls was a mixture of cured meats, ox cheek, sirloin steak (cooked perfectly). We also had roast potatoes, artichoke, and parsnip puree. All served up with a sweet and savoury gravy sauce. The oaked La Lus red wine with cherry, dark fruits and plum notes went great with this course enhancing the sweetness of the sauce. It made it a tad bit too sweet for my palate, nevertheless, still yummy
For pudding we had baked white chocolate cheesecake, passion fruit and marjoram sorbet. I do not need to say much more about this pudding! I liked the simplicity when plated up reminded me of a dish we had in Launceton place. Whilst enjoying the last dredges of the pudding wine and relishing dessert, Thomas presented us with a selection of liqueurs for the petit fours.
There was also a coffee and tea option. I declined the liqueur and opted for Jasmine tea instead. I do love when tea is served with a sand timer and what not, details! It is always the details people.
The selection of petit fours had local Maltese pastry (thinkalmond croissant) but way tastier, madeleines, chocolate rolls. I mean tis a miracle we still had room for it!
As the final (and third) food taster of what can only be described as the year no one saw coming, it was fab! Bravo to the chef, Thomas and the team for an excellent dining experience!
cheers
Ndidi
p.s. the fab Thomas and my signed menu!
